Night crypto market digest: JPMorgan distances itself from Polymarket, Gemini losses, and Norwegian ETH exposure
While most market participants were resting, several landmark events occurred in the crypto industry. Gemini's report once again disappointed, JPMorgan finally severed ties with Polymarket, and a sovereign investor from Norway found an unconventional path to Ethereum.
Market Picture: Calm Before the Storm?
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $63,167 as of 09:20 Moscow time. The night session passed in a narrow range of $63,000–$63,550, but by morning buyers had somewhat given up ground, and the price slipped to the lower boundary. Ether (ETH) held near the $1,877 mark, showing a similar picture: after midnight, fluctuations did not exceed $1,874–$1,890.
Altcoins from the top 20 showed minimal volatility but mostly moved into the red. The worst performance came from TRON (TRX) with a decline of 1.12% and Dogecoin (DOGE) at 1.02%. In the top 100, the situation was more interesting: the growth leader was Velvet (VELVET) with an impressive +28.78%, followed by Ether.fi (ETHFI) and Cosmos (ATOM), which gained 11.95% and 11.54%, respectively. The day's laggard was the Lighter (LIT) token, which lost 6.03%.
Flows into spot ETFs remain mixed. Ethereum instruments attracted $6.72 million, XRP funds — $2.25 million, while Bitcoin products recorded an outflow of $131.13 million. This is a clear signal of a redistribution of institutional interest.
Over the past 24 hours, positions of 69,417 traders were liquidated for a total of $210.53 million. The largest liquidation order occurred on Bybit — the BTCUSDT pair lost $1.98 million.
Institutional Landscape: Hidden Risks and New Strategies
The most notable event was the disclosure that JPMorgan severed banking relations with the prediction platform Polymarket back in October 2025. The reason was regulatory risks. The bank suggested the company find a new partner, which it did. Notably, business ties have not been completely severed: JPMorgan invited Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan to a closed client conference in February and claims a role as organizer of a potential IPO. The platform itself is currently raising over $1 billion at a valuation of $20 billion — double last year's figure.
Crypto exchange Gemini reported its fourth consecutive loss-making quarter. Net loss in the second quarter amounted to $107.7 million, although revenue grew 37% year-over-year, reaching $45.5 million. The volume of assets on the platform fell by 54% — to $8.4 billion, which the company attributes to falling prices and an outflow of institutional clients. In response, Gemini is developing prediction markets and stock trading, while the operating loss was reduced by 18% compared to the previous quarter.
Norway's sovereign fund disclosed an investment of approximately 6.15 million shares in BitMine Immersion Technologies worth about $81.87 million as of June 30. Thus, the fund gained indirect exposure to ETH through a public company rather than through direct purchases of digital coins. BitMine was not listed in the report for the end of 2025, and the fund did not disclose the date and price of the share purchase. BitMine itself reported holding approximately 5.805 million ETH as of August 9, of which about 5.067 million were in staking.
My view: JPMorgan's departure from Polymarket is a vivid example of how traditional banking continues to distance itself from the crypto sphere even amid growing interest in tokenization and prediction markets. Meanwhile, the Norwegian fund's move is telling: institutions are seeking workarounds for exposure to digital assets, preferring regulated public instruments over direct purchases. This is a trend worth watching closely.